Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Travel Day: Newark Penn Stn. to Waterbury, CT

I have been staying in New Jersey for the last few days and I needed to go to Connecticut. My train from Newark Penn Station to Bridgeport left about 9:25am on Amtrak. Newark Penn Station is very old and almost dilapidated. When I got to track 2 for my train, I was about 20 minutes early. There was not another person on the platform. It was kinda spooky, but there were people about on other platforms.
I love the art deco style of Penn Station, but it needs to be cleaned up. 
My train arrived on time and I got on to the "quiet car" where people aren't supposed to be on cell phones or anything. I wish they had these on airplanes. This train had free wifi and a power socket at my seat. How cool is that? My first stop was New York Penn Station and we waited there for about 15 minutes. I was wondering why the train schedule seemed like it took so long to get up to Bridgeport, but this explained it.
 The few minutes I spent riding through NYC.
 I don't know which bridge this is but we are north of the city.
About 2 hours after I left Newark Penn Station, I arrived in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was nothing like I was expecting. I thought it would be a nice station and Martha Stewart would be there to welcome me off the train. Little did I know that the station was really old and decrepit. It's an elevated station that is right above the streets. I had to change to the MTA North train to Waterbury. I didn't have a ticket yet and had to find a kiosk to buy one. It only costs a few dollars to go from Bridgeport to Waterbury. After about 15 minutes my train came. It only had 3 trains on it and one wasn't in use so it was a little tight. I had my huge bag with me so it wasn't easy finding a spot, but I settled into an area with seat that faced each other.
It took an hour to get to Waterbury, CT and the station is the end of that line. The station is also right next to the street and there were guys touting taxis. I found a guy to take me to the Taft School which is like 15 miles from the station. I found out later that he wasn't a legit taxi since he didn't have a meter. I had no idea how much it would cost me to get to the school, but after about 20 minutes up the highway and through small Connecticut towns, we arrived at the school and it cost me $25. I have no idea if that was a bargain or not, but since I had been traveling for about 5 hours, I didn't care. Here is my room for the week.
















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